| Sumario: | Participants; S. J. Czaja (USA), W. R. Boot (USA), J. Sanford (USA), N. Charness (USA), W. A. Rogers (USA). ISSUE Gerontechnologies have potential to improve the wellbeing of aging adults, yet there is a significant lag in adoption of technology by older cohorts. Part of the reason may lie in inefficient strategies for disseminating research and product development to end users: aging adults living in communities. CONTENT Our symposium will discuss strategies adopted by university-specific and federally-funded USA Centers to disseminate research findings both to the scientific community and to aging populations. It will highlight: 1) methodologies in common across centers; 2) different challenges for locally funded and nationally funded centers; and 3) evaluation processes to assess dissemination plans and strategies. STRUCTURE Czaja discusses the evolution of the CREATE center, a five-times funded (National Institutes of Health) interdisciplinary group with over 20 years of experience in human-factors-guided development of gerontechnology. Boot discusses the dissemination plan in a new Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center, ENHANCE, funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), that provides formal training about product development and marketing to principal investigators. Sanford discusses a mature NIDILRR center, TechSAge, and provides examples of how TechSAge disseminates its findings. Charness discusses the mission of the Institute for Successful Longevity, a relatively young university-based Center, and how it provided community support during the initial lockdown stage of the COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, Rogers discusses a relatively new University center, CHART, and the role of partnerships in developing community linkages. CONCLUSION Bridging the gulf between academic research and product development requires linking academic research, product developers, and community members to ensure that gerontechnologies suit diverse aging populations. We provide specific examples of how both academic and federally funded research centers can develop effective dissemination strategies to ensure that both developers and aging adults partner effectively in the development and dissemination of gerontechnology products. Such partnerships are crucial for bridging the digital technology divide.
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